Perfecting the Victory Dance
Keys to Being a Winner
1/29/03
I. Introduction
Muhammad Ali today is called the greatest. However, it hasn’t always been that way. He became the greatest in the eyes of the world over the last 40 years. Muhammad Ali used to “float like a butterfly” and “sting like a bee”. He dazzled crowds with his amazing ability to dodge a punch while he used a very unconventional style, with hands held low, as he bobbed and weaved. Ali won the heavyweight title on February 25th, 1964 from Sonny Liston. Ali was a 7-1 underdog and 43 out of 46 major press writers picked him to lose. You see nobody really believed that he could be a champion. Nevertheless, he defeated Sonny Liston to become the Heavy Weight Champion of the world. Well on his way to becoming the greatest, Ali lost his title and then won it back in perhaps the greatest Heavy Weight fight of all time, the “Rumble in the Jungle”, against the champion George Foreman. Ali played what came to be known as the “rope a dope”. Ali covered up and let the heavy hitter, George Foreman, tire himself out throwing punches, then when Foreman was exhausted, Ali knocked him out. Now he became known as “Americas Champion” and some called him the greatest. Ali then lost his title to Leon Spinks and later regained it after beating Spinks by unanimous decision. Now, he had become the only Heavy Weight boxer to win the title three times and many called him the greatest.
Tonight, I’m going to share some important keys to being a winner that will be sure to send you on your way to being the greatest.
II. What Is Victory?
Victory- n. Greek- Nike- the winning of a battle, war, or any struggle
Overcome-v. Greek- Nikeo- to conquer; to carry off the victory, come off victorious
If you’ve ever played on any sports team, and your team won the game, then you overcame your opponent, and you were victorious. In any kind of game or match that you’ve been in, be it a chess game, a tennis match, a 2 player video game, or a Boxing match, whatever it is that involves competition, and you came out on the winning side. Then, you had a Nike. You had a victory.
Well, what if you’ve never won anything. You’ve never won a door prize. Your name has never been called on the intercom because you won this week’s coloring contest. You’ve never won a card game. You’ve never beaten your little brothers and sisters at Charades. You’ve never won the 40 yard dash in P.E. class. You surely haven’t won an argument with your parents. You may have never won an argument with your dog. Regardless of what it is that you think makes you a loser, by the end of the night, you’ll be feeling like a winner, because you are one.
Drama Team get ready.
Let’s look at one young man’s story of how he went from defeat to victory in one day. Let’s watch “Frenchie’s Last Stand.”
Drama Time- Frenchie’s Last Stand
III. You Are a Winner
1 Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Corinthians 2:14 “Now thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”
1 John 5:4,5 “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
The very fact that you are a Christian; that you believe Jesus is the Son of God; that you are born of God; that you have faith; that you are in Christ, makes you a winner. The Message says this, “The person who wins out over the world’s ways is simply the one who believes Jesus is the Son of God.” According to the Bible, you are guaranteed the victory. God always causes us to triumph in Christ. I love the word always. It doesn’t leave any room for exceptions. God always (at all times, in every situation, through every circumstance, in good times and tough times, when it seems like you ain’t gonna make it, when it seems like you’re on top of the world) causes you to triumph.
I’d say that we are all champions in God’s book, wouldn’t you think? I mean, there’s no way we can lose. If God is for us, then who can be against us?
Let’s move on. I just want to share some things with all of you winners, since we now know that we’re all winners, right? I just want to share some characteristics of a winner that will help shape you into the winner you were meant to be.
IV. Winners Know their Authority and Use Their Mouths
Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
Winners speak out. Winners know the authority they have because of Jesus’ blood, and they know the authority of God’s word in their mouths. That’s why they overcome. They are victorious because of the confession of their faith and the blood of Jesus.
Winners not only know they are winners, but they also say they are winners. Say this, “I’m a winner. I’m an overcomer. I’m more than a conqueror.” Alright, keep it up, say that everyday.
V. Winners Serve
Matthew 20:25-28 “ But Jesus called them to Himself and said, ‘You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served-and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.’”
Here Jesus said that if anyone wants to be great, let him serve. If anyone wants to be first, let him serve. Jesus didn’t come to be served, but to serve others. A winner is great. A winner is first. Jesus was the greatest winner anybody has ever seen. How are winners first and great? They serve. Winners aren’t too proud to get down on their hands and knees and wash somebody’s feet, or clean somebody’s floor. Winners are not arrogant and they don’t say, “I ain’t stooping down to their level. I’m above that.” Winners don’t turn their noses up so high that they’d drown if it was raining. Winners are not sore losers. They don’t stomp their feet and pout as they walk away from a loss at the basketball court. They give the opposing team a high five and a “Way to go. Good game.” Winners don’t sweat the small stuff, nothing holds them back or gets in their way. Winners do whatever it takes to get the job done, and sometimes that means taking out the trash. Sometimes it means washing the dishes. Sometimes it means cleaning up somebody else’s mess. And winners do all those things with the attitude of a servant. An attitude that says, “I’ll be happy to wash those dishes for you,” instead of an attitude that says, “I can’t believe I have to wash those stinkin’ dirty dishes again. Don’t they know I hate washing dishes?!” Winners don’t just serve. They serve with the right attitude.
VI. Winners Accept Encouragement
Deuteronomy 20:1-4 "When you go out to fight your enemies and you face horses and chariots and an army greater than your own, do not be afraid. The LORD your God, who brought you safely out of Egypt, is with you! Before you go into battle, the priest will come forward to speak with the troops. He will say, ’Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight today! Do not lose heart or panic. For the LORD your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’
I LOVE this passage. I’m a firm believer that the Bible should absolutely come to life when you read it, especially if you’re reading some of the stories like David and Goliath and the story of Samson. Well, let’s take this passage and breathe some life into it. But, first, a little background- this passage here is just the beginning of a list of principles that governed warfare. God promised the Children of Israel a land flowing with milk and honey. It’s called what? The Promised Land- or the land of Canaan. Well, a land flowing with milk and honey isn’t exactly going to be vacant. So, there are people living there. But this is Israel’s land, they have the deed on the property-God told them it was theirs. So the Israelites have to start evicting people. Thus, they go to war. Let’s read a couple of background Scriptures.
Deuteronomy 7:1-2, 4 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mighteir than you, and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods.”
There you have it. The Israelites cannot have any roommates from out of town. So they have to start kickin’ some freeloadin’ booty and take their land from the people there.
But they can’t just go up to the land and break out the bazookas and tanks and kill everybody. There are certain principles and standards that they have to obey. For instance, they have to make an offer of peace first. If the Jebusites accept, then the Jebusites become slaves. If they don’t accept, then they become dead. Well, this passage in Deuteronomy 20 is the beginning of that list of principles. So, in every war, these principles are the things that would happen.
Alright. Go with me in the theater of your mind to the Great Valley of Abracadabra. Here on one side of the Great Valley, you have the Men of Israel, a grand army of about 300. They are men with no armor and no civilized weapons, just shields of wood and hatchets made with big rocks. Some have swords because they plundered the army they defeated last week, but others are happy with their homemade hatchets. They worked before, and they’ll work again. The men of Israel stare out across the Great Valley and see their opponents, the Soldiers of Amatha, numbering about 2500, wearing armor of steel, all of them. They have swords, arrows, catapulting boulder-slingers, the works. I picture something straight out of Braveheart.
Here comes the priest, riding up on his silver steed. This ain’t your normal priest. No white collar, but a brown robe torn in spots where swords just missed his appendages. No little round hat covering his bald spot, but a full head of brown locks waving in the wind. No rosary hanging around his neck, but a medallion that bears the crest of his people. No pocket New Testament in his hand, but a clinched fist signifying the thrust of victory. He comes galloping in, raises his hatchet high above his head, and gives his glorious speech that inspires all the troops. “Listen to me, all you men of Israel! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight today! Do not lose heart or panic. For the LORD your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!” At this, all the men of Israel shout with a voice of triumph and lift up their kilts and moon the enemy. No, I think one of the rules concerning warfare was NOT to moon or flash the enemy. However, every war was like this. The priest would ride out and encourage the men of Israel.
The men of Israel were winners. They accepted encouragement and they went out and won the victory. They didn’t tell the priest to blow it out his ear and that he was stupid. They didn’t tuck tail and run. They could see that their enemy was bigger and badder. But they stood their ground, and they fought their hearts out. Why? Because of the encouragement of the priest. Let me tell you, there is one who offers you encouragement today. He is our High Priest. Here’s what he says, “In the world you will have troubles and tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world and because I am in you, you are an overcomer.” (John 16:33) Paul offers you encouragement as well, he says, “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”(Romans 8:37) That phrase “more than conquerors” describes people who are super victorious, who win more than an ordinary victory, but who are overpowering in achieving abundant victory. Accept their encouragement and go out and win the victory.
Let’s recap- a few keys to being a winner. Know your authority and use your mouths, be a servant, and accept encouragement. Remember that you are a winner. Act like one! Let’s pray.
